


The Seven Sins

by WrC



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: HiJack Week 2017, Hijack, Lust: appearance but not use of sextoys, M/M, the seven sins - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-08 20:17:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8859541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrC/pseuds/WrC
Summary: HiJack Week december 2017, prompt: Seven Sins





	1. Lust

**Author's Note:**

> I think I'll do only a few days for this. I hope this is as funny as I though it was while I wrote it x"D

 

Every Christmas, there was a clear allocation of tasks in the Haddock/Frost household. Jack, being the festive and joy loving dork in general, did the Christmas decorations, while Hiccup, being the better cook by far, planned and prepared a dinner of epic proportion for friends and family.

This year was the first time Hiccup had his doubts about this separation.

It wasn’t that Jack had done a bad job decorating - on the contrary. The living room and dining area were basking in the golden glow of hundreds of lights, tastefully distributed on and around furniture, and alternated with fake green wreath. A Christmas tree (plastic, Hiccup was allergic to real trees) stood proud in the corner, fully loaded with shiny balls. Bright red bows here and there were like a cherry on top.

Unfortunately, amids the transparent lights taped underneath their glass coffee table, was an unusual object. It wasn’t unknown to Hiccup, but it was most definitely out of place.

Really, of all the places it could belong, this was the least appropriate.

“Jack? What the fuck is your glass dildo doing under the coffee table?!”

Jack’s head popped around the corner of their bedroom, his hair all ruffled from lying on the bed.

“Oh, you found it? I thought I’d go for something else this year.”

“Ha ha, very funny. You do realize we have friends coming over in a moment, right?”

“Well in my defense, you did dare me.”

“What? No I didn’t…” the moment he said it, the brunet remembered. They’d been joking about slutty Santa costumes, and Hiccup had made the obvious mistake of saying-

“He only comes if you decorate appropriately; with sexy things. That’s what you said, Hic.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“But I did.”

Hiccup looks around a bit more, closely studying their multitude of decorations.

“JESUS!” He picks a small vibo egg out of the crib, right in between Joseph and Maria. “Jack! What. The. Fuck?!”

The dirty perp, meanwhile, was laughing his ass off. Until he saw his boyfriend’s borderline murderous look; that tuned it down to just some suppressed giggles.

“Come on it’s not like your parents are coming over.”

“No, that’s tomorrow. Lucky for you, I am not very stressed with tonight. BUT you will remove those sextoys right now.”

“I wanna see if you can find them all,” Jack teased.

“Yeah sure we have time for a game of ‘find the most embarrassing objects ever before your friends barge in’!”

“Anything for sexy Santa!” The other flashed a bright smile.

Hiccup shook his head, but he couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “Well you’ve outdone yourself. But if you don’t clear these out within ten seconds, they will all go up your ass. Simultaneously.”

“Come on, it’s hilarious.”

Hiccup plucked anal beads from behind a poorly placed wreath. “I’m not joking. Start collecting them or I will murder you in your sleep. Suffocation by silicone.”

“Point taken. Please get the box?”

The brunet fetched the box that should be the rightful place for all these toys. Instead of pretty much everywhere in the living room.

“How long have they been in here?” Hiccup asked, his bewonderment rising as more and more phallus shaped oddities were revealed.

“I put them all in yesterday.” Jack plucked cockrings off the fake, electric candles. “I’m actually surprised you saw the glass one under the table first. I mean look around you!” He took another silicone piece of equipment from between the mistletoe. “You have to admit some of these are pretty funny.” The white-haired man took a ball-gag from the tree.

“Balls in the tree,” Hiccup deadpanned. He tried to keep a straight face, but both boys knew it was hopeless. A grin inevitably leaked through his stern features, and Jack knew he was safe… ish.

“All right, that’s the last of them,” Jack announced as he pulled a pink dildo out of the hands of a very ugly Santa doll. The doll was an heirloom from Hiccup’s side of the family, so the brunet insisted it got a place in the living room.

“Really? We have more toys, right?”

“We do. Which only makes your realize we got a lot, don’t we?”

“True…”

“But I ran out of hiding spots, so that’s it. Scout’s honour.”

“You never were a scout.”

“But I have honour!”

“Yeah right. Put this box away, the others can be here any minute.” Right when he said it, the bell rang. Hiccup ushered Jack to the bedroom while he went for the front door, hoping that his boyfriend had told the truth, and there were no awkward surprises waiting for him tonight.

 

*

 

Dinner was, thankfully, uneventful. After that, they got to giving each other presents, and it was revealed who the secret Santa couples were. Aster got Jack a bunch of mint candy canes, breath mints, chocolate-mint cookies, and a mug that said ‘I <3’ and an image of a mint leaf. Everything was mint. Jack loved it.

Hiccup got a cactus from Astrid - to which Jack mumbled something along the lines of “anything is a dildo if you’re brave enough”. Somehow Astrid found that way funnier than one would normally expect.

Jack had gotten Tooth and arrangement of colourful nail polishes, Tooth gave Sandy kinetic sand, and Hiccup got North a singing reindeer. They all had gifts to unwrap, and then give in return, and the cycle continued until there was a large pile of wrapping paper on the floor.

All in all a very normal evening. Enjoyable even. Hiccup was in a delightful mood about it all. That is, until everyone had left and he got a text from Astrid.

A: Nice tree top

The brunet looked up. The traditional top had been replaced with yet another sex object.

“JACK YOU LITTLE SHIT!”

Hiccup burst into the kitchen and threw the offending object at Jack’s head. The other was just making a drink and was just a bit too slow to react; the silicone whacked against the back of his head.

“Ow!”

“Nice tree top she said! Fucking hell this is so embarrassing!”

Jack wanted to be tactful and not burst out laughing, but it was just too hilarious.

“Hahahaha I’m sorry I just couldn’t resist! How could you miss that thing?!”

“You dick! This isn’t funny! Oh my Gods what if they all saw??” It was quite amazing how fast his feelings were changing. From embarrassment to worry to white hot anger in just a matter of seconds. “I am going to kill you!”

“Whoa whoa whoa, buttercup, calm down.”

“I WILL NOT CALM DOWN, YOU PRICK!”

“I still haven’t given you my gift!”

“A gift isn’t going to save you, I’m not that cheap thank you very much!”

“Say that after you’ve seen it!” Jack quickly countered. “Come on you’ll love it.”

Still sputtering and spewing insults at his dickwad of a boyfriend, Hiccup was pulled to their bedroom. There, still undergoing a torrent of sarcastic comments, Jack produced a nicely wrapped package from a black, logo-free bag. Finally, Hiccup shut up.

“So? Are you going to open it?”

“If you say you’re sorry.” There was still some resistance left, which, when you think about it, wasn’t very surprising.

“I’m sorry. Anything that gets you so worked up would make me sorry, you know that. I love you.”

“Love you too. Just not so much right now.”

The white-haired man sighed. He got out a second bag and added another gift to the first. “That was supposed to be for later, but I guess I should give you now. It should put you in a better mood.”

Hiccup gave a little smile. “Fine. Does it matter which I unwrap first?”

His boyfriend nodded no, so he went for the first gift he’d gotten. He gasped when he saw what was inside. A red, soft, silk pair of panties with some white lace on the edges. He dug further and retrieved a red top trimmed with white fur. And then a Santa hat. And lastly a beard.

Laughing, he put on the hat and held the beard in front of his face.

“Ho ho ho, you dick.”

“You like it?” Jack’s grin was cheeky, but it was obvious enough how unsure he was of Hic’s response.

“Yeah. Those panties are drop-dead gorgeous.” Hiccup ran his hands over the fabric. “Damn these will feel so good…”

“Glad you like em. And the rest… well we did need a sexy Santa.”

Hiccup nodded. “You summoned it by decorating the house extra sexy. Just… ask instead, next time. OK?”

“I will,” the other promised. “Now open the second gift!”

The brunet was expecting something in line with the previous gift. Something sexy at least; toys were a shared kink of them, after all. The wrapping paper only revealed a cardboard box, however. Inside was another object, also wrapped. This continued once more, until Hiccup got a rather small, cube-shaped object. He gave Jack a look.

“What, I had to hide the shape from you! Otherwise it’s no fun.”

He carefully peeled the paper back. There was no hiding it now. It was obviously the box of a ring. Hiccup’s heart was beating in his throat. But right when he was about to open it, Jack’s hand shot out and stopped him.

“Wait!”

“What?”

“Ehm… I had another joke prepared but I’m pretty sure you’ve had enough of those today…”

“Don’t tell me this is fake.”

“NO! Well, yes. What’s in there is. I put the smallest cockring I could find in there. Your actual gift is here.” The white-haired dork produced a smooth, shiny, pitch black ring from his pocket. He offered it to Hiccup, who accepted it with a soft ‘wooooow’.

“Is that?”

“Jup. Obsidian.”

Hiccup gingerly put it on his finger. “It’s beautiful. Thank you so much Jack.” He rushed over to his boyfriend to give him the mother of all hugs. “Thank you thank you thank you.”

“So… am I still on your naughty list?”

“Naughty list? Ha. You hold the record.” The brunet gazed into cheerful, loving eyes. “But I might just forgive you for now.” He carefully put a chaste kiss on his boyfriend’s lips. “I think Santa is paying you an early visit tonight.”


	2. Sloth

  
The pale morning sun peeked past the edges of the bedroom curtain, casting slim strips of light across the bed. As the hours progressed, the thin strip moved upwards, closer and closer to a shock of white hair coming from underneath the covers. Jack was still in the blissful limbo somewhere between being awake and fast asleep; a sort of pseudo-slumber if you will. That rare, most relaxing and unwinding feeling of rest before lazily waking up. It was the purest of relaxations, and the white-haired man intended to make it last as long as he could. He was floating on it’s soothing waves, going wherever the flow of drowsiness took him.

With noon fast approaching, the line of sunlight had crawled up far enough. It was now shining right in Jack’s eyes, brutally ending his comfortable state of being. With an only mildly annoyed groan, he rolled to his side. He let his hand lazily flop down, knowing he had the bed for himself; Hiccup’s alarm and gone off hours ago, only briefly waking Jack before he’d fallen asleep again.

As it turns out, he was _not_ alone. His hand hit a Hiccup instead of empty covers.

“Ow! Jesus, Jack,” the other mumbled. “Good morning to you too.”

“Smorry Hiccy,” Jack mumbled back. Then he remembered his boyfriend was supposed to be at work. It drove the last bit of sleep-induced-fog from his mind. “Not that I don’t like waking up next to you, but shouldn’t you be somewhere else?”

“Yeah…” the brunet rolled over to face Jack. “But I can’t.” He had only one eye open, and half at that, in a way Jack found most endearing.

“You… can’t. Why?”

“Look out the window.”

“I don’t wanna look out the window. That would mean leaving the bed.”

Hiccup laughed softly. “Fine. There’s two feet of snow outside. Couldn’t decide which hump of white was my car, so I decided to give up on work today. Didn’t you notice I came back to bed?”

“Not at all.”

The brunet chuckled. “Well, it was nice to sleep in, anyway.”

“You make it sound like the sleeping in is over.”

“It’s almost noon.”

“So?” Jack rolled on his back and held out his arm in invitation. When Hiccup hesitated, he waved his hand. “Come here I know you want to.”

With a smile, Hiccup got comfortable against Jack; he wrapped his leg around Jack’s, and rested his head on his shoulder. It was more lying half on top of Jack than a loving snuggle, but Jack didn’t complain. The bare skin felt soft and warm on his own. Hiccup was always so warm in bed, unlike Jack. And his hair smelled nice. Jack nuzzled it with his nose, getting a little giggle.

“I love you,” the white-haired man mumbled lazily, slowly rubbed his hand in circles across a freckled back.

“God, I could fall asleep again like this, no problem.”

“Go ahead. We have nowhere to go.”

“But it’s so late already. I shouldn’t.”

After a few more minutes of silence, however, Jack concluded that his boyfriend had drifted off to sleep anyway. He tried not to laugh, lest he woke him, and just kept tracing random patterns over Hiccup’s back, simply enjoying the physical contact. He could feel himself doze off again as well, not caring in the slightest that he was majorly fucking up his sleeping rhythm.

After what seemed like just five minutes but was actually half an hour, Hiccup was forced to get up.

“Sorry, gotta pee.”

With the greatest reluctance, Jack let him go.

 

*

 

When hunger and the limited capacity of the human bladder drove the boys to the kitchen, yesterday’s pancakes proved a delicious and zero effort breakfast. Especially the latter reason seemed to be of importance, since neither really wanted to put in any real effort. Jack also happened to have a pink, frosted donut, which Hiccup somehow managed to get more than half of. Jack had tried to save the sugary goodness that was rightfully his, but it was all for naught. By the time the white-haired man had caught up to his boyfriend, the donut was all gone. So instead he stole a kiss from sticky, frost-sweetened lips.

They plopped down on the couch with a laptop and Netflix, deliberately not mentioning the dishes that were still on the counter in the kitchen. Those were a concern for later.

After two episodes of NCIS, Hiccup’s phone rang. It was Aster. “Ah, shit.”

“We forgot we were going to hang out…”

“I’m sure the snow didn’t melt yet. We have no choice but to stay home, right?,” Hiccup stared at the screen. “I don’t wanna pick up to find out if I’m right.”

Jack laughed and grabbed the phone from him, pushing the red X. “Then don’t.”

The brunet settled back onto the couch. Jack moved his legs so Hiccup could sit in between and lean back against him. Like this, they continued watching, but their rest was short-lived. Right as Abbey was explaining the crucial piece of evidence that would turn the episode upside down, Hic’s phone rang again. He pressed the call away and muted the thing. Then Jack’s phone went off; it was a text of Aster, asking if they were home.

“No we’re not,” Jack mumbled. His boyfriend agreed, and they both muted their phones completely, throwing them on the other couch.

At some point, a blanket diffused from the bed all the way to the couch. Add to that a natural affinity for cuddling in both men, Netflix bingewatching, a tub of ice-cream, and the occasional pee-break, and you have a pretty accurate description of their entire afternoon. Their ability to not think about things like an overloaded laundry basket or the pile of dirty dishes in the kitchen was most admirable.

But then again, they were snowed in, right? Nothing they could do besides chill. Or so they kept telling each other.

When the sun had long crept below the horizon again, however, inevitable discomfort drew near.

“Two things.” Jack started. His feet were up on the couch and he was leaning to the side, his head on Hiccup’s shoulder.

“One, I want a basement so I can build a boat. And two, I am hungry.”

“How would you get your boat out of the basement though?” Hiccup replied. “And sadly, we’re out of leftovers.” There was a distinct disappointment in Hiccup’s voice, but Jack knew it was mostly played. Still, he gently pat his brown locks.

“There there. Deliver takeout?”

“Yes please.”

Jack reached for his pocket, and came to a rather unfortunate discovery. “We ditched our phones.”

They simultaneously looked over to the other couch.

“Anti-dibs,” called the brunet.

“Fuck you.”

“Love you too.”

“Currently in the most effort-free and lazy kind of way, I’m sure,” Jack said.

 

*

 

When the doorbell signaled the arrival of food, neither wanted to actually go _get_ the food. They were both sprawled on the couch, each sort of hanging in one corner, their legs a tangled mess in between them.

“I made the call,” Jack argued. “So you go get the food.”

“You’re the one who was hungry to begin with.” Hiccup’s stomach chose that exact moment to rumble. “I’m not hungry at all.”

Jack started pushing the other with his feet, slowly edging him off the couch. The brunet just let it happen, too lazy to fight it.

After a while (and a second ring of the doorbell), Hiccup slipped off the couch completely and onto the floor, where he remained in a not all that uncomfortable, horizontal position.

“Come oooon, he’s gonna leave with our food again, Hic.”

“It’s already paid, he won’t take it back.”

“Just go get it already.”

“I don’t wanna.” Another rumble from his stomach. “Ffffffffine.”

With extra old-man groans for dramatic effect, Hiccup worked himself up on his feet. He gave his even lazier boyfriend a Look as he trudged towards the door.

Jack didn’t hear any talking, so he assumed the delivery boy had already left again. No surprise there; who in his right mind would wait that long for someone to come to the door? He just hoped the food was still there.

All he heard was some rustling of plastic, and then nothing for a rather long time.

“Hiccup?” he called.

“Yea?”

“Where’s the food?”

“Don’t think for a second I’m bringing it all the way back there!”

“Goddamnit Hiccup you better not have eaten all the chicken wings yet!” Jack rushed over, suddenly driven by a strong need for the most sinfully prepared chicken. The joint they ordered from had wings so spicy they made your face melt, and they were the _absolute best_.

When he came into their tiny hallway, he found his boyfriend sitting on the floor right next to the door, legs crossed. He was eating one of the precious hotwings with a devilish smile.

“Oh no you didn’t.”

“But I did.”

Jack was looking at his boyfriend with a look of utter horror. “How _could_ you?”

“Okay, I didn’t. This one I only just picked up to mess with you.” Hiccup pulled the bag of chicken wings from behind his back. “But you should have seen your face!”

“Ha ha. Gimme those.” The white-haired man joined Hiccup on the floor and sunk his teeth into a hotwing. “Hmmm so goowd.”

“You know what would make this even better?”

“What?” Jack asked with his mouth full of chicken so spicy he was pretty sure it’d hurt tomorrow morning.

“A draft strip on our door. My back and ass are freezing from the draft.”

Jack laughed and started gathering the food. Together, they moved back towards their beloved couch, only to decide halfway there that the bed would be even more comfortable. After all, there was a TV there as well, and a lot more soft surfaces.

The brunet brought the blanket back and they settled on the bed, leaning against the headboard together. There were plenty of pillows to keep them comfortable, and crappy TV shows to serve as background noise to meaningless banter and little conversations about nothing in particular.

The pizza and hotwings didn’t last very long, and the boys crawled under the blanket together for more lazy cuddles. Just being close to each other was really all that mattered at this moment.

At some point they took a shower together, which turned out equally uneventful and relaxing as the rest of their day. Who even has time for shower sex when you can also just stand soaking under hot water, with a cuddly Hiccup clinging to you telling stupid stories about his cousins?

 

*

 

“I don’t want to sleep yet,” Jack complained.

“That’s what you get if you stay in bed till past noon. But it _is_ already past midnight.”

“We could watch another movie.”

“Or we could be sensible for a change and go to sleep. Come on.”

Hiccup didn’t budge, and Jack was forced to give in and just settle for some more cuddling. Hiccup’s warmth was soothing, and the brunet was tracing fingers over Jack’s back in that particular way that Jack liked so much. Hiccup smelled like his usual self, with a hint of axe from their shower. Despite his earlier protests, Jack could feel his eyes slip closed much sooner than expected.


	3. Envy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter deals with strong negative body images. Be advised.

His heart hammered in his throat as Hiccup stuck the key in the front door. When he told Jack he’d be getting a haircut today, he may not have mentioned that one other thing he’d been planning on. At the time it seemed like a brilliant idea, but as he watched the hairdresser do his thing in the mirror opposite of him, he’d gotten more and more doubtful. There was no going back though, and he could only hope Jack liked it.

“Hi, I’m home!”

A “Hi Hic”came from the living room in response. Hiccup took his time putting away his coat and shoes, trying to delay the moment of judgment just a bit longer. In the little mirror in their hallway, he saw his reflection again, and he started. That was still something he needed to get used to for sure… although he didn’t necessarily hate it. It had something.

Jack’s jaw hit the floor when Hiccup joined him on the couch. The no doubt tense TV show that he’d been watching was completely forgotten.

“Holy shit! Your hair!”

The no-longer-brunet shrugged. “I thought I’d try something else. Do you… like it?” He tried to sound as confident and open about the question as he could, although it probably wasn’t fooling Jack.

“Wha- well, yeah! It’s awesome! Of course I like it, I wouldn’t dye my hair the same colour if I didn’t, now would I?” Jack ruffled the freshly coloured white locks. “It’s just a surprise, that’s all. What made you go for it?”

“As I said, just trying something else.”

“And you went for stark white instead of something a bit less drastic, like red-ish highlights? Not that I don’t admire your dedication to trying something so thoroughly new.”

Again, Hiccup shrugged. “It looks very good on you, so I wanted to try it too.”

“Good thing you got it done at a proper hairdresser instead of doing it yourself though. Getting it that white is damn near impossible if you’re not a pro.”

“Y-yeah. I’m glad I tried it.”

Jack eyed him critically. For a brief moment Hiccup thought there was something with his hair - did the hairdresser miss a spot? - till he saw that his boyfriend was looking at _him,_ not his dyed locks.

“Are you okay? Do you not like it yourself? It’s okay to be honest, I can help you dye it back if you want.”

“No no, I ehm… I like it. I just need to get used to it, that’s all.” He ran a hand through his considerably shorter and more spiky hair.

That’s right, he just needed to get a feel for this. He was sure he’d like it in a few days time, or so he stubbornly told himself. Jack gave him a little smile and put a kiss on his forehead.

“In any case, I like it. You’ll get used to it, trust me.” Jack put an arm around his boyfriend and pulled him close. “I’ll get my chance to braid your hair soon enough again.”

Hiccup tried to push his unease aside and forget about it, if only for a little while. The hair was pretty, goddamnit.

 

*

 

Jack winced at a gust of wind and tried to huddle further into his shirt to protect his neck from the biting cold. He hurried to their trashcan, only to discover those damn raccoons had had a go at it again. The trashcan was on it’s side, and one of the black plastic bags was torn, its contents scattered over the pavement. Cursing, the white-haired man started to pick up the trash, putting it back in its proper place.

“Should put a fucking lock on that can,” he mumbled under his breath. Thankfully it was mostly garbage from other parts of the house, and not the kitchen, so there were no moldy banana peels.

There was, however, a rather odd item. Matting powder. As far as Jack knew, neither of them used makeup at all, let alone matting powder. What did you even use that for? And even if he cared about covering up the occasional zit, he was pretty sure this wasn’t the right tool for it. Jack knew at least that much.

So what the hell was it doing in their trash? It was a great mystery, and one he was unlikely to ever solve. He had better things to worry about, like getting out of the biting cold. He put the powder back with all the other trash, put the can upright again, and slammed the lid on it.

Shivering slightly, he fled back inside.

A shock of white hair was poking out above the couch, and Jack smiled. He honestly did like the colour, even though he had the feeling his boyfriend held a different opinion. If only Hiccup could love it like Jack did. Maybe he should dye his hair brown, to compensate?

A more pressing concern, however, was Jack’s body temperature. He’d been outside for far longer than expected, and it had taken its toll. He quickly ducked into their bedroom to pick up a comfortable hoodie.

Next problem: where was the hoodie in question? Jack could swear he’d left it on the chair in the corner, but it wasn’t there. He checked the laundry. Maybe his lovely boyfriend had gotten one of his lovely cleaning sprees.

Sadly, no luck there either. The closet then, perhaps?

There was a hoodie there, and although it was not his favourite one, he put it on anyway; warmth was a higher priority than fashion at the moment. That blue thing would turn up eventually. It’s not like clothing just disappeared.

He settled in comfortably with Hiccup, putting his head in his lap. His boyfriend idly started to play with his hair and Jack smiled.

Living the good life.

 

*

 

Jack was pretty sure clothes were now, in fact, disappearing. He had searched literally everywhere, and he was absolutely positive.

His favourite pair of underwear, as well as his laziest jogging pants were missing, and he couldn’t find them anywhere. The jogging pants were a minor inconvenience, but those boxer briefs…those were special.

Jack wasn’t superstitious at all - he thought superstition was the stupidest thing ever - but those briefs were an exception. They were his lucky briefs, and he kinda needed them today. But he couldn’t ask Hiccup of course, for that would mean confessing he even _had_ a pair of lucky briefs. He’d sooner die.

At least his favourite hoodie had returned from wherever Hiccup had hidden it. One day the green-eyed man had been wearing it, to Jack’s surprise. When he’d asked why, he’d gotten the obvious yet adorable answer: “Because it’s comfy and smells like you”.

 

*

 

“Hiccup?”

Hiccup looked up, white, gel-loaded spikes bouncing. Another little experiment, and in Hiccup’s opinion another failure. But Jack had helped him with it, and the other man had seemed rather fond of his handiwork, looking at it as if it was actually pretty. So Hic kept it the way it was.

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”

True for most things, so Hiccup nodded, his hair bouncing ever so slightly.

“Is something bothering you?”

“N-no? Why would there be?” _Why did you do that? You coward!_

Jack must have seen a sour expression, cause his frown deepened.

“Are you sure? You seem a bit… off lately. Not quite with your head in the game.”

“I’m ‘with my head in the game’, I assure you,” Hiccup defended himself. _You idiot, why can_ _’t you tell him the truth?_

“Then what are they baking right now?” Jack nodded towards the TV, where a stream of the Great British Bakeoff was playing. Baking was 10,000% Hiccup’s thing, and they both knew it. There was no way he wouldn’t know what they were making, and how to make it too most of the time.

“I uh… pastries. Obviously.” _Can_ _’t or shouldn’t tell?_

Jack made the sound of a show buzzer. “It’s a bread challenge. Come on, Hic. What’s going on? You can tell me.”

 _Probably shouldn_ _’t even tell him. He’d laugh._ “I just don’t feel so good,” Hiccup said instead. “A cold or something; it’ll pass.”

“You’re not sniffling, it’s not a cold…”

 “I appreciate the concern, Jack.” Hiccup put on his bravest smile. “But I’m fine. Really.” _I_ _’d be a burden. I won’t be that._ _Ever._

 

*

 

Hiccup stood in front of the mirror, a deep frown etched in his forehead. His hands were frantically fussing with his hair, trying to get it into the shape he wanted. Trying to get it like Jack had it. But it was no use. Even when Jack had done it himself, it hadn’t looked right to Hiccup. It was still different. Imperfect. Unlike Jack.

He could see the brown returning at the roots. How the hell did Jack even keep it so white? Did he really touch it up every two weeks? Probably.

Hiccup looked in the cabinet under the sink and saw the white hair-dye.

 _Well there_ _’s your answer_.

He could ask Jack to help him touch it up when he got home though. At least he could ask that much. That could be played off as staying fashionable, after all. And maybe, when he knew how, he could do it _down below_ himself. Surprise his boyfriend.

He dipped his fingers in the jar of gel again and gave it one more try, pulling and twisting and ‘styling’. But he’d used too much, and it was just becoming a sticky disaster instead of a sleek, beautiful haircut.

Frustrated, he threw the jar across the bathroom. It splatched against the wall, creating a huge spray of liquidy hair product on the tiles. _Fuck._

Exasperated, he washed out all the shit from his hair and rubbed it dry. He’d probably scoop some gel of the wall and try again later. For now, he used a concealer stick Astrid had recommended to him to cover up zits. He camouflaged each and every freckle in his face. With every spot that he covered, he could feel himself become happier. Prettier.

_Who am I kidding. It looks like shit._

Getting angry with himself, he decided to take a break from the bathroom entirely. Instead, he got dressed. He pulled on Jack’s boxer briefs - just a bit too big for him.

_Not enough filling._

Next the smallest pair of jeans his boyfriend owned - one that Hiccup actually fit but Jack didn’t - and that characteristic blue hoodie. He looked at himself in their bedroom mirror, but he didn’t know what to think of it. Did it really look so bad on him, or was that just his negative mind talking? Was he that scrawny? Why couldn’t he fill out those closes properly and look handsome, like Jack? He honestly couldn’t tell anymore.

At least his skin was smooth and even from a distance, he liked that. And the hoodie smelled nice.

 _I_ _’ll never smell like that though_.

Hiccup had taken to using the same aftershave and deodorant as Jack, but Jack’s clothes still smelled so different. Yet another way in which Jack was better than him.

He felt tears stinging in the corner of his eyes, but he bit them back. Crying would only fuck up the makeup.

He tried to fluff his wet hair a little, and he did his best to convince himself he looked like Jack after a shower. It was kinda close, right? That made him smile a little, but the smile vanished as soon as his teeth started to show.

_Buckteeth._

Honestly, how could someone like Jack stay with _him_? It was beyond his comprehension.

Hiccup did realize that he had a terrible self-image and what he was doing probably wasn’t healthy at all. Part of him knew that, whenever he thought he was ugly, it might just be his own mind fucking with him. Because Jack never looked at him in disgust. Longing, loving, eager, yes. But not once disgust.

A much louder part of his brain, however, overshadowed any form of reason. It was a feeling he could never tell Jack, for he was sure his boyfriend would leave him if he did. Who would wants someone like that? Someone with a part so mean, so vile, so toxic, that it said only one thing.

_Ugly._

 

*

 

That was how Jack found him.

Jack’s entire left side was covered in mud, and he was pretty sore. But none of that mattered when he saw Hiccup like that in front of their long, bedroom mirror.

“Hiccup?” he said, softly.

The other was obviously startled. His head snapped in Jack’s direction, clear terror in his eyes.

There was a brief moment of confusion. This boy was like a mockup of Jack. A police sketch that sort of looked like you, only ever so subtly different. It was unnerving, to say in the least. But the confusion was quickly followed by realization, and suddenly everything clicked for Jack. His missing clothes. The makeup. The odd behavior. It all made sense.

Jack wanted to cross the distance immediately, but remembered the caking mud on his pants. He’d slipped just outside at work, and he was filthy beyond words. Mumbling soft curses, he struggled out of his clothes, putting them on a pile next to the door, and then hurried over to his boyfriend who was standing there like a deer caught in the headlights.

Gently, he touched Hiccup’s arms. He wanted to just pull him into a hug and never let go, but the other wasn’t responsive at all.

“Hiccup, why didn’t you tell me… I… I could’ve…” the words died on his lips when he saw how his boyfriend started tearing up. Not knowing what to do, Jack rubbed away at the makeup covering his cheeks and cheekbones, trying to reveal those beautiful freckles again. “Why would you hide those, they suit you so well, you dork.” Jack tried to put on a smile for his boyfriend, but failed.

The tears made rubbing away the makeup slightly easier - apparently it wasn’t waterproof.

Skin-tone stained Jack’s sleeves, but he couldn’t care less.

“Hiccy…” Jack got a major lump in his throat. Why would Hic want to look like him so badly?

He pulled the boy into a hug.

“I’m ugly.” Hiccup chocked.

Nothing could have hurt more. Hiccup’s pain was like a dagger to Jack’s heart, and every sob twisted it, pushing deeper.

“Fuck, you’re the most beautiful man in the world,” Jack whispered in his ear. “You are perfect in every way. Don’t you dare tell me otherwise.” He combed through the white-and-brown hair and slowly rubbed Hiccup’s back while his boyfriend sobbed and shook. He carefully guided them to the bed so they could sit down, lest the sobbing mess of a boyfriend fell or something. Jack wasn’t sure he’d be able to catch him properly with how shaken he was himself.

Jack kept the love of his life in his arms, whispering it was okay, to let it all out. That he was here for him and always would be, until Hell froze over.

 _“If you’re scared, I’m here beside you”,_ Jack softly sang.

_“If you get lost, I”m here to guide you_

_And I give you peace, when peace is fragile_

_Love is all the good in you_

_Love is peace, when peace is fragile._ _”_

 

*

 

“Can we… talk about it?” Jack tried, asking as gentle as he could.

“You’re so pretty. I’m not.” Hiccup defiantly rubbed a sleeve over his eyes.

“You know what made you stand out to me, when we first met in that coffee house?”

“What?”

“Those freckles on that cute face of yours. I had eyes for nothing else. Even though I was there-”

“-on a date with someone,” Hiccup finished, a laugh starting to break through. “Oh man, that girl was livid. And you were so drop-dead gorgeous I couldn’t stop staring.”

They were sitting in their bed, snugly under the covers, both showered and in clean pajamas even though the day had just started. Hiccup was in between Jack’s legs, his back up against Jack’s torso. The slightly taller man had his arms wrapped around his boyfriend, hugging him tight.

“There is no-one I love more than you, Hiccy.” Jack confessed. “Don’t you ever forget that.”

“Even when I’m not sexy like-” Hiccup stopped himself and rephrased. “Even when I’m not sexy?”

“One: yes, my love goes further than looks, thank you very much, and two: you are so sexy it should be illegal. And pretty. Gorgeous even. No don’t argue with me here, I know best! I look at you every day, after all. I’m the one that stares at you while you sleep, even though you sometimes drool in a very uncharming way. And even then…” Jack brought his mouth close to Hiccup’s ear and whispered. “Even then, you are the most beautiful thing in the world.”

Hiccup tried hard not to start crying again, and the other felt his eyes tear up just as fast. They simply held on to each other.

“Thank you.”

“Always.”

“Will you go back to work?”

“No. I’m staying with you today.”

“Could we ehm…”

“Yes?”

“Can you dye my hair brown again?”

“Anything for you, my dear.”

 

 

 


End file.
